Covid 19 coronavirus: new community case in Christchurch; PM Jacinda Ardern talks to Mike Hosking

Covid-19 has resurfaced in the community for the third time, this time a worker at a managed isolation facility in Christchurch.

And a supermarket on Colombo St in the city has been closed for deep cleaning after the positive case visited the store on Sunday.

The new case is a staff member working at the Christchurch Managed Isolation Facility, understood as the Sudima Hotel, where a group of international sailors have stayed.

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The worker had developed symptoms of Covid-19 on Saturday and requested an additional test on Sunday.

Countdown’s general manager of corporate affairs, safety and sustainability, Kiri Hannifin, confirmed that the person visited the store, but the time of the visit is unknown.

The supermarket was closed last night and was undergoing a deep cleaning, Hannifin said. The supermarket was expected to reopen normally today.

The latest case in Christchurch ended 10 days in a row with no community cases of the virus in New Zealand.

A total of 31 positive Covid cases are now linked to the group of sailors. They are among 440 fishermen from Russia and Ukraine, 270 of whom will go out on three Independent Fisheries boats next month.

The new case was tested as part of routine testing for Sudima staff at Christchurch airport. They returned a negative test last Thursday, October 29.

On Saturday, however, they developed symptoms and yesterday requested a new test, obtaining a positive result that was received on Monday.

“The person is now isolated at home and reports being careful to isolate himself as soon as he developed symptoms,” says the Ministry of Health.

The first of the international sailors should have completed their managed isolation this morning, but will extend it for at least 24 hours as an additional precautionary measure.

The ministry said full details of the case and the actions taken in response will be provided today at a press conference at 1 pm.

Precautionary measures for international sailors include additional tests: up to four for some people and an already prolonged stay in controlled isolation.

This is the third time that Covid-19 has resurfaced in the community,

New Zealand went 102 days without a case until August, when a group from Auckland forced the city into a two-week Level 3 lockdown.

Then in October, after 22 days without a new case in the community, a marine engineer tested positive after performing work on a ship in Auckland, the Sofrana Surville.

Four cases of Covid-19 were reported in controlled isolation on Monday afternoon. One of them, an international sailor who was staying at Sudima in Christchurch, detected in tests on the 15th as a close contact of a case on the 6th.

The other three people were a person in an Auckland quarantine facility, who arrived on October 19 from Milan via Singapore and tested positive for routine tests around the 12th.

Another person arrived from London via Singapore on October 28 and tested positive for routine tests around day 3. They are now in the Auckland quarantine facility.

And the fourth case was detected in managed isolation in Auckland, after being granted permission to reunite with a family member recently arrived from abroad. The family member has been previously registered in our positive case totals. Today’s case will be recorded as an import related case.

Last month, Air Commodore Darryn Webb said that Newstalk ZB staff at the Sudima Hotel took infection prevention measures including physical distancing, regular and thorough cleaning, use of PPE, basic hygiene practices and daily health checks.

He hoped that the number of positive cases within the group of fishermen would increase.

“I think it’s logical to expect that. We knew in planning that places like Russia are high risk.”

Webb said the processes in place around testing at the border were robust.

“We have an exclusive use facility for these fishermen. Part of the process from the beginning is that we know they come from a high risk area, so we provide a single location.”

He said there was a 24-hour delay while the aircraft worked on its process in Moscow and the fishermen were gathered there for 48 hours and then en route for 18 hours.

That period of time provided an opportunity for the virus to spread.

In August, a maintenance worker at the Rydges Hotel in Auckland contracted Covid-19 from a guest at the managed isolation facility.

His strain matched that of a host who flew in from the United States before testing positive for Covid-19 and then being transferred to a quarantine facility.

Chief Health Officer Dr. Ashley Bloomfield later said investigations had revealed the worker used an elevator “very little” after the woman.